VB2003 Standard to VB2008 Express

[EntityX]

If I had a Visual Basic.NET 2003 Standard program that's working just great and I wanted to "upgrade" it to Visual Basic 2008 Express do you think everything would work ok. What does Visual Basic 2008 Express lack in comparison to let's say Visual Basic 2008 Standard. Or should I say what does Visual Basic 2008 Express lack that Visual Basic 2008 Standard won't lack when it comes out. I'm under the understanding that it's coming out around February. If it's already out that's news to me.

[Paul M]

Not to sure never actually used 2003 but i believe it makes use of the .NET 1.0 and 1.1 while 2008 supports 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 so it is quite a change. How big is the application anyway? If it is of large scale then it would certainly be a difficult task

[RobDog888]

1.0/1.1 frmaework is not 100% compatible with 2.0 or above. Some functions have been discontinued.

The Express editions can produce the same code that you can with the standard or above but you wont get mobile device support or other supported functions and wizards etc. Unless you are doing medium to large sized apps for business, the express editions are just fine. Plus they are free

[PaulYuk_MS]

Here are a few more significant limitations of Express:
- It enables local data only in the tools, vs. client-server data connections
- It enables client development only (Windows Forms and WPF), not Web, Mobile or Office. However Web development is available in VWD Express.
- It has Clickonce deployment but not formal MSI setup projects

The full power of the .NET framework is there so you could drop down to code to accomplish tasks if needed. It's just not as easy as using the tools. VS Standard upgrade is available at $199, just fyi. Pricing details are here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/aa700832.aspx

[EntityX]

Would Visual Basic 2008 Express work with ClickOnce?

Another question. I use a lot of graphics commands like Drawline, DrawBeziers, RotateAt, etc, etc, . Would all of that stuff work ok with VB2008 Express.

[RobDog888]

Yes, your gdi+ graphics code will still work.
ClickOnce is still in Express 08 so I would assume its still the same.

[PaulYuk_MS]

Confirmed.